Strategic Talent & Learning Leader | Apprenticeships

FirstGroup; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free Travel on TfL Network

75% rail ticket discounts

Discounts on European rail services

First Xclusives – benefits portal

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

First Rail London is seeking a Talent, Learning and Development Lead to design and deliver a comprehensive L&D strategy across the organisation, including apprenticeships, early careers, management, and senior roles.

This role combines strategic oversight with hands-on delivery, ensuring high‑quality learning interventions, onboarding, career transition support and measurement of outcomes across the organisation and its TfL concession.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading Talent, Learning and Development at a senior level.
• Proven track record of building organisational capability through effective L&D interventions.
• Experience of leading workforce planning and succession planning activity.
• Significant experience managing and developing Apprenticeship programmes.
• Experience of designing and implementing leadership and career development frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Act as the organisational subject matter expert for Talent, Learning and Development, providing strategic guidance and partnering with the Executive and senior leadership team.
• Define and deliver the Talent, Learning and Development strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and First Rail direction.
• Lead organisational capability and talent planning, integrating skills frameworks, career pathways, succession planning and leadership development.
• Oversee the end-to-end learning and development lifecycle, translating capability priorities into targeted interventions and ensuring delivery aligns with performance processes.
• Embed a culture of continuous learning and development, promoting inclusive and modern learning practices.
• Support organisational change and transformation, ensuring the workforce is equipped with required skills.
• Develop and manage external partnerships with training providers and professional bodies.
• Establish and embed evaluation approaches, measuring effectiveness and value of L&D activity.
• Lead governance and compliance to ensure programmes meet legislation and quality standards.
• Manage budgets and supplier relationships for cost-effective delivery.
• Oversee Apprenticeship programmes management, ensuring engagement and quality.
• Promote early careers initiatives, including outreach with schools and community partners.
• Act as Social Labour Needs Training Plan Lead, coordinating with RfL.
• Manage and develop the chosen Learning Management System (LMS).

Skills

Strategic L&D

Apprenticeships

Stakeholder engagement

Budget management

Education

Degree or equivalent

CIPD Level 7

Tools

LMS systems

Data analytics

Job description

First Rail London is seeking a Talent, Learning and Development Lead to design and deliver a comprehensive L&D strategy across the organisation, including apprenticeships, early careers, management, and senior roles.

This role combines strategic oversight with hands-on delivery, ensuring high‑quality learning interventions, onboarding, career transition support and measurement of outcomes across the organisation and its TfL concession.